Michael J. Fox Foundation Awards $2.5 Million for Parkinson's Drug Development Projects Led by Academic Investigators

January 27,2009

NEWYORK, NY ó The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsonís Research has awarded $2.5 million total for seven Parkinsonís drug development projects. The funding was awarded under a special, one-time academic funding track of the Foundationís industry-focused Therapeutics Development Initiative.

By funding academic projects under the Therapeutics Development Initiative, the Foundation aims to leverage the increasing sophistication of university-based drug discovery/development programs. While academic labs historically have focused the lionís share of their attention on basic research to identify drug targets, it is becoming ever more common for university investigators to engage in translational research efforts. Today, increasing numbers of academic centers are in possession of the core resources and expertise to conduct the highly specialized studies that can keep therapeutic hits moving forward toward clinical testing and patients.

As with all MJFF grants, full funding is dependent on the achievement of predetermined, specific milestones and on researchersí agreement to make the results of their work available to the Parkinsonís research community.

Funded projects are listed below. Detailed information, including grant abstracts and researcher bios, is available at www.michaeljfox.org.